I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a restraint engageable with the knees of a vehicle occupant to prevent the occupant from sliding forwardly upon deceleration and, in particular, to a selectively deployable knee restraint for both the driver and passenger of the vehicle which is deployed upon sudden deceleration of the vehicle such as upon impact.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Restraint systems which deploy upon sudden deceleration of a vehicle, such as during impact, have become increasingly popular for the vehicle interior. Additionally, passive restraint systems are being mandated through legislation aimed at protecting the general public. The earliest restraint systems include lap and shoulder harnesses which essentially "tie" the vehicle occupant down. A increasing number of vehicles incorporate air bags for the front seat occupants. The air bags are designed to deploy upon impact cushioning the vehicle occupants against impact with the steering column, dashboard or other structure which could injure the occupants.
Despite the added restraint systems to protect occupants of the vehicle, it has been found that in certain situations and with certain vehicles, the occupants can slide along the vehicle seat beneath the protection of the air bag or safety belts. Besides avoiding the beneficial restraint of the safety system, with sufficient distance and deceleration, considerable leg and knee damage can occur as the vehicle occupant impacts the dashboard. In an attempt to reduce injury, the knee bolsters of the dashboard are padded to soften any impact. Additionally, recent federal rules have mandated a maximum distance between the knee bolster and the typical vehicle occupant to limit damage by reducing the impact force. However, by mandating a standard based upon an average, such safety features fail for a large group of the population. In the case of tall occupants requiring increased leg room, the mandated distance may not provide sufficient space for comfortable seating requiring compensation by some other means. Such compensation may result in circumvention of the safety features.
It is also recognized that any safety feature should be inexpensive to incorporate into the vehicle and should be inexpensive to reset following deployment. Currently it costs several hundred dollars to repack the air bags once they have been deployed. Moreover, since the cost of any new vehicle feature will be ultimately passed on to the purchaser, such features must be reasonable to value conscious consumers.